Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Food in Hilo

Fresh food is everywhere in Hilo, from the bananas in our yard to the daily Hilo farmer's market. Even Hilo's grocery stores carry local produce. We like eating locally grown fruits and vegetables because they are fresher, usually cheaper, and support the dream of self sustainability of the Big Island. We harvested some bananas in our yard today, which is pretty cool. But our favorite place to shop is farmers market in downtown Hilo.

Local growers bring papayas, bananas, tomatoes, ginger, avocados, lettuce, sweet potatoes, oranges, lemons, garlic, onions, peppers, cucumbers, jack fruit, bread fruit, pineapple, coffee, mac nuts, rambutans, and more. Many of the tastiest fruits are not able to be transported and therefore not even available on the mainland.

2 comments:

Beware! That big Hilo "farmers" market is not very local, there are many unscrupulous vendors selling non-Hawaii produce. Garlic, for example, is not grown anywhere in Hawaii. If you see someone selling garlic, DO NOT BUY anything from them, just keep walking. The tomatoes, ginger, avocados, lettuce, sweet potatoes, oranges, lemons, cucumbers probably are local.The onions, peppers, and eggplant might be local, but probably aren't. ALWAYS ask.May i recommend the Kino'ole Street market, where the produce is actually local.